Welcome to the Official Michigan Green Schools Foundation Website

St.Clair Middle School students worked hard to earn their Michigan Green School certificate like all of our other designated schools this year! Here, they are pictured with some artwork made from recycled bottles.

Congratulations to all our 2019 Green Schools on their fantastic achievements!

If you're interested in applying for the 2019-2020 school year, reach out to your county coordinator to learn more! All official green schools may use the Michigan Green School copyright logo on websites, newspapers, yearbooks, etc. To request the vector logo, please contact us.

2019 Goal

A top goal again this school year is reducing food waste. For every 1 lb. of food waste composted, 6 lbs. of greenhouse gases are kept out of the atmosphere! Schools can get a compost bin or compost units for classrooms and know they are making a great contribution to protect our earth. Learn more at https://www.smarterlunchrooms.org.

Monthly Ideas: May

Energy Idea: Start an anti-idling bus campaign at your school.The idling buses do while waiting for students wastes energy and pollutes the air around the school grounds. Do an information blurb on your website and parent newsletters. Many will be glad to help out!

Green Idea:Make a plan to support the health of the Great Lakes Watershed. Schools can participate by signing up for an Adopt-a-Beach location all over Michigan! Not near a beach? A clean up on local rivers helps the Great Lakes Watershed too because rivers feed into the Great Lakes. To learn more about protecting the Great Lakes, visit the Alliance for the Great Lakes website.

Reuse Idea:Rather than adding to the amount of textiles already in our landfills, host a clothing and textiles collection at your school. Some items like towels and blankets could go to local animal shelters for reuse, and other items can go to local thrift shops for resale and/or textile recycling.

More Ideas:Visit our Green Activities page for more suggestions. The page is updated each year, so continue to check back!

Websites We Love

​https://www.b4usa.com/ - You can find almost anything on this website that is American made. Buying products made in the USA is environmentally wise because it decreases the energy used and greenhouses gases released because of shorter transit distances, and it means the products have to meet the safety and toxicity standards of the United States.

https://4ocean.com/ - Pull 1 lb. of plastic out of the ocean with each purchase from this great organization. They are taking tons of plastic out of river outlets and oceans!

Green Did You Knows

Michigan has caught on to a new worldwide trend called Repair Cafe. Instead of throwing broken items away, you can have access to necessary tools and guidance to get them repaired for a new life. Saginaw, Petoskey, and White Lake Township are among the towns with access locally. Find one near you at repaircafe.org/en/.

It takes 450 years for plastics to decompose. Paper or plastic shopping bags? Paper is a better environmental choice, and reusable cloth bags are even better!

The average American throws out 82 lbs. of clothing a year!

Lake Erie is starting to be called the new Dead Sea. Lake Erie tested out for 1.7 million plastic particulates per square mile. These particulates harm people and animals through the release of BPA, a toxic chemical. Many marine animals also fatally swallow larger pieces of plastic.

The EPA has a list of EPA-tested, recommended cleaners and other maintenance items. Your school can start using these once it uses up what it already has. Look for the Safer Choice Label for an easy way to know that the product meets the EPA standards on toxicity. To learn more, visit www.epa.gov/saferchoice.